1909/If I Had A Nickel

If I Had A Nickel
Date of Scene:	30 August 2024
Location:	Game Crown Arcade
Synopsis:	Some social in Game Center Crown.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Madoka Kaname, Hinote Kagari, Usagi Tsukino, Chiyo Sakai, Hinoiri Kirara, Laura La Mer, Takashi Agera, Jadeite

---

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It's an overcast and muggy day outside, but it's cooler indoors, in the air-conditioned arcade where mugginess is not a friend to electronics. It's after lunch and after dessert-lunch, so the Fruits Parlor's mostly cleared out, but the arcade itself is doing brisk business.

"I'm going to ask Haruka to teach me how to drive a motorcycle," says Mamoru to Usagi as he leans against the cabinet she's playing on, holding a silver crystal lollipop he's in the process of savoring. "I figure if I can handle a motorcycle, I'll eventually be able to handle the driver's seat of a car."

He's in a green punk band t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up, skinny jeans, and dress shoes. His glasses will absolutely fog up when he goes outside, and something in him knows that; he's pushed them down so they're practically on the edge of his nose and he can look over them if he wants.

He leans around the cabinet a little to see Usagi's progress and literally has no idea what he's looking at. "Are you winning?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka walks into the arcade looking and feeling stressed. She has a notebook in her hands that seems to be radiating something magically suspicious, but there isn't enough there to really feel threatening and honestly... it's Madoka Kaname. People probably know by now that she's not really the kind of person to have bad intentions.

    She's been told, several times by a couple different people, to go rest. That she's running herself ragged. That she looks awful. Well, they're all probably right, but she just can't help it. She is who she is.

    Still, she has promised to at least make the attempt to relax, so here she is at the arcade. Seeing Mamoru and Usagi inside, she glances between them for a moment to see if she's interrupting anything intimate, and only when she's fairly certain it's safe does she approach.

    She forces herself to smile and says, "Hey, you two. Having fun?"

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari is out and about looking for signs of The Meaniedokas and hasn't had many leads today. Tracy, his detective chara is floating over his shoulder with a magnifying glass looking at this or that.

Today he's dressed for the weather, in a black T-shirt, and a pair of grey shorts. Sneakers. Nothing fancy today.

Hinote Kagari enters the arcade because it seems a place The Meaniedokas might be drawn to. Not today. Just Madoka Kaname herself. "Hey, Kaname-san." he says.

Tracy does eye the notebook suspiciously, but also, it's Madoka. It's probably not the Death Note or something. She looks stressed.

Well this is the place to relax, as his eyes trace over to Mamoru and he gives him a wave. "Hey Chiba-san. What are you two up to?" he asks, trying to peek over Usagi's other shoulder.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's a muggy, warm day outside, but it's refreshingly cool in the arcade, and they'd planned to be at the arcade, so her outfit is the perfect balance - a white crop-top with a pink-and-blue plaid flannel shirt thrown over it, unbuttoned and open, and a pair of pink shorts with sneakers. She's got a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses flipped up to rest at the top of her head, just to complete the look.

The game cabinet is one of those first person shooter games that has a large gun attached and room for two players, though Usagi is taking it on by herself, eyes fixed on the screen, pulling the triggers quickly as she fires on the enemies appearing all over the screen, blinking away special effects with hyperfocus.
R
"Really?" She hums a little as she shoots down six vehicles and careens into a tunnel. "That sounds like a good idea. I mean, she's a racer so she probably knows all the best ways to drive and be pretty safe about it."

Unlike some drivers they know. As more people join them, she offers a distracted wave and spares them a smile.

"I'm winning! I'm on Stage 3, which is the last level of the game. This is Crisis 4, but if someone wants to join you can; just uh, don't die?" It's a game older than she is, but it's been meticulously taken care of, and still plays like a dream. "I'm trying to beat my high score and run time."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai enters the cool arcade only to pause allowing the blast of chill air to hit her to chase off the lingering feel of moisture that wanted to cling to her skin. Even though she was wearing a simple but fashionable sundress, she still wore a loose long-sleeved white shirt beneath. Her shoes were for comfort only today: Simple slip-ins with decorative candy-shaped clips holding the laces. The part she should NOT be wearing is the scarf twisted around her neck like some 50's throwback -- But at least it looked to be silk, or something else equally light-weight and not stiflingly hot. Nobody look too close at the bruises she's trying to hide with that though.

The few familiar faces that are here are easy enough to spot: The overly tall and dark Mamoru near the twin-bunned gunner-bunny that was her cousin. Madoka is also recognized and she pauses to flash the tense looking girl a smile. "Ah it's been awhile, how are you, Madoka-chan?" Hinote gets a nod as well having seen him several times but not quite sure as to his name.

But she then moves over to Usagi's other side to peer at the game she's working on while remarking, "I hope you're saving the really 'special' lollipops still, Mamoru. I can make the regular ones any time."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara came walking into the arcade, holding her phone up and... oh gosh. She was recording. "Hey, welcome to ShimmerCode. So, I've had a few people ask if I game anywhere other than consoles and so I figured I'd show everyone the arcade I go by. That over there is my favorite game. There's this really amazing motorcycle racer I know who I've been kiiiiind of in a feud with over the top score. She has it this week, but I'll probably take it back this week. I've totally been feeling that need for speed." She didn't mention the fact that that was now the ONLY way Haruka would race her, because LAST TIME they'd raced Hinoiri had ALMOST DIED and now she refused. "Not as fun as the real thing, but what can compare to the feel of the wind in your hair, the vibrations of the engine under you and the taste of-- USAGI?!"

Hinoiri quickly turned the recording off, hiding it behind herself, face burning red as she looked between... Oh gosh everyone was here. And her face only got redder.

"... Heh. Errr... this some kind of... eh... heh heh... sparkle... meet and greet... thing? I uhhhh... just... coming by for a second so, ummm..."

Could the earth swallow her now? PLEASE?

Laura La Mer has posed:
Wearing a blue shoulderless dress with a white hem and a pair of elegant sandals, Laura is entering the Arcade, exploring around the place aimlessly, carrying a teal bag with yellow stars dotting its fabric, inside of which she is carrying her inseparable Aqua Pot (Kururun is catching a nap inside of the latter).

She is playing around with a bubble photo, tossing it upwards and catching it in her hand. Those who have made a diligent exploration of Tokyo will be able to recognise a specific river in Pikarigaoka coursing under a bridge, taken at sunset, the orange light giving a golden hue to the course of water.

Distracted by the feeling of magic, her gaze turns towards Madoka, brow furrowing when seeing her spent and carrying that odd notebook. Is it something to track Gretchen? Considering what she is going through, she would doubt it's anything else. "Hey, Madoka-san", she says, offering a small glass jar full of marine gummies. "Want some?" If accepted she will shake some of them into the pinkette's hands.

An uncomfortable expression appears on her face as she sees Usagi for a fraction of a second before returning to her previous friendly one. She heads towards her and Mamoru though, for one reason only: she knows nothing about this place, and seeing Usagi so engrossed in it, they are probably the best people to explain it to her. "Hey", she greets. "What do people do here?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Absolutely," the too-tall eleventh-grader says to Madoka, glancing over her and looking concerned -- but knowing it's impossible to tell her to rest. That would be like telling him to rest if, say, Zoisite were missing. "Hey, if you need some energy, let me know," Mamoru adds more quietly, but still loud enough to hear over the sound of games and sociable kids.
"I'm watching Usako win," he tells Hinote with a grin after Usagi explains what she's doing. And then he looks up, glances around -- if Madoka and Hinote approached without Mamoru noticing, who else is here?

Chiyo! Mamoru waves an arm, but she's already seen them: he nods at her concern. "I have a stash in a drawer and a stash in my magician's hat..." he starts, and then Hinoiri.

Mamoru is unabashed about staring, here. "Are you literally vlogging the arcade?" A beat, and he gentles very slightly. "You should swap notes with Bow, he's been doing it almost the whole time he's been here. Come over and watch Usagi-chan kick the ass of Stage 3 Crisis 4."

Then Laura approaches, and Mamoru doesn't know her by sight, and Usagi's engrossed in her game, and that's a perfectly innocent question that really isn't very normal at all, so his answer's cheerful and non-judgemental. "People come here to play videogames. Like this one here -- in a cabinet like this, you're playing versus the machine. You put a token in the machine and play until you lose -- or until you win. I'm not sure how else to explain it..."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka looks over to Hinote and waves at him as he comes in. Brai pokes out from behind her Bearer's pigtails to also wave at Tracy, then starts hovering over to Usagi and watches her gameplay.

    At Chiyo's question, Madoka stares at her like a deer in headlights for a few moments before clearing her throat and saying, "Fine! I'm fine. It really has been a while. How've you been?" At the mention of lollipops, Madoka recalls with a halfhearted laugh, "Those things basically saved my life a little while ago."

    Then Hinoiri comes in, and while Madoka notices her she doesn't quite piece together what she's saying. "Taste of Usagi? Is that the name of some... like... bunny-shaped fad treat or something?"

    It takes her a full moment to realize just how spacey she's feeling. Maybe she actually does need a break. When Laura notices her and offers her some gummies, she smiles and says, "Sure, I'll take some!" Holding out her hands, she accepts the candy and starts eating them one at a time. Brai also takes one from Madoka's hands and chomps on it while watching Usagi's gameplay.

    When Laura asks, Madoka explains, "It's like Mamoru says. You play arcade games here, hang out with friends, and I'm pretty sure there's a snack bar somewhere around here."

    Madoka doesn't respond to the offer for energy right away. The thought of it is a little strange to her, or maybe it just sits weird knowing that her X-Chara are draining people now. Then again, Mamoru is offering it willingly. "Thanks, but... maybe later." She might need that favor when the time comes, but there's no fighting right now.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Machines explode on screen, causing it to fill with orange and yellow and white, the red of her target flicking over it, visible but easy to miss for those who aren't used to the game.

Usagi is very used to the game. She leans with the firing, showing that she's one of those gamers who thinks you need to move your whole body when you're going in for the big shots, because she makes it through the section of the game in the tunnels, and the voice actors call out about terrorists and monsters and she fires, fires, fires, barely ever missing or being off center.

She's in the zone.

And then she hears her name shrieked and jolts, firing at the wrong thing, missing her targets, and has to hurriedly get back in the zone, firing off rapidly, twisting and firing to make up for th e lack of player too and her own distraction, because she's really going to win!

"Are you doing Vlogs on ShimmerCode now?"

And here she'd thought Bow was the only one she knew into making vlogs! It's a good thing she's got Mamoru on the same page as her, because he says exactly what she was thinking.

There's another girl too, one she recognizes from that awkward scene at the meteor shower a few weeks ago. There's a single instance where she's not sure how to react, and then the game starts popping off again and she focuses, firing, firing, firing, until - "BOOM!"

The final victory music starts to play. "Alright! That might not be my top score, but it's still respectable!"

Her name is already listed twice on the high scores list; this is just her replacing the guy who'd taken eighth, as she taps HOPCHAN, so that 4th, 7th, and 8th place all now read HOPCHAN.

"Thanks for watching everyone! There's not a lot of games we can all play together, but I'm good to hang if you are - oh!"

With the game done, she turns to everyone with a bright smile, only to see Chiyo and immediately make a beeline for her, already coming in for the big hug. "Chiyo-chan, how are you?!"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi Agera is actually aware of the concept of overwork and needing breaks to be at your best. He may not always act on such things but he's at least aware. And today, somewhat out of character, he's not in the lab or the office or the Other Lab.

    Today, he's walking around and kind of gravitating towards the arcade; walking by only to see the rather interesting group of people together there. Hinoiri and his brother and his brother's girl and several others. Well, it can't be a sparkle-specific meeting; Hinoiri's there. And she's not a small alicorn anymore, so he's not intruding.

    He diverts and walks into the Crown slightly behind Chiyo and Laura, and manages to avoid making any remarks to anyone despite several percolating to his mind.

    Instead, just a simple wave of his hand to the people that know him. And a little gravitating towards watching the Usagi girl he knows little about shoot the heck out of enemies.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
"No. Maybe. I think. Possibly," Hinoiri said to Mamoru. She wasn't entirely sure what vlogging was but... "It's... it's a thing to do." That doesn't destroy the world. So, you know. That's a positive.

"O-oh... uhhh... right. So... errr, you saw that?" she asked Usagi sheepishly. Which, admittedly, she probably knew. But well, anxiety. "I mean, err, I figure... you know. I should try new things, figure out what makes me happy. No magic and all that so... I might as well give it a try. Apparently some people like it, so... there's that."

Positive reinforcement and all that.

She then glanced to Madoka and shook her head. "I was actually going to say the slight taste of sweat and blood when you push yourself to the limit..." ... well, there was an image.

Then... Takashi was arriving. Her eyes narrowed and... then she relaxed. "Hey Agera-san," she said, just a hint of an edge to her voice. Well, he was Obsidian connected and they did keep trying to kill her. And she didn't want it to be obvious, at least publically, that the two still got along.

"But... yeah. If you're all going to be sparkling and whatnot, I can go. I was only swinging by to take another swing at dethroning Haruka."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai smiles toward Mamoru's assurance that he still has some of the ones she had made that were magical. There had been no need to use such things lately so far as she knew, but she still worried. Lollipops and other hard candies could at least last awhile. She really wasn't sure what the shelf-life for magical candy was so she had gone for ones she knew actually *would* survive awhile.

Madoka's awkward response earns a little tilt of her head as she raises an eyebrow uncertainly at the girl, about to question further---But then Hinoiri is there distracting her avid gamer cousin and causing her to jump a bit in surprise, too.

The smile she wears falters just a bit. Not to a frown or a scowl, but just... falters as she remarks dryly, "We don't all sparkle anymore. At least not without the help of the crarft section of Don Quixote." The only reason she says THAT at all is because she knew a similar thing had happened to Hinoiri.

Otherwise she quickly changes the topic. With good reason! Usagi steps over offering the hug and she steps in to return it holding her for just a moment longer than might seem polite in public because she really could use a hug.

"I'm doing okay. I've got Taro-san helping at the shop lately and training with Ojiisan, so work has been a lot easier. Plus now with Philip... It's been busy," she finally admits with a laugh as she steps back, right into Takashi.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Laura has been staring at Usagi's screen while she gets explained to her that you pay to play games against a robot until you win or lose. Is that really the norm? Does everyone comes here to fight as entertainment? Noticing how focused.Usagi is at crushing her virtual opposition, she imagines a fight with real stakes and something terrible happening if you, no restraint or pity allowed.

"I think I get it. What happens if you lose then? Do you have to pay a bigger fee than the one you use to play? And what do you get if you win?", she asks again to Mamoru.

"I think I like playing with friends more", she says when Madoka chimes in. "Much more fun than playing against someone that isn't even real." Because there is no "against" among friends in her vocabulary even if you are facing each other.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Whenever you need," Mamoru tells Madoka seriously, but cheerfully enough, still. He watches Takashi come in, and waves back! But he doesn't come over until Usagi's done and the victory music is playing, at which point she scoots to Chiyo her cousin, and he slidesteps over to Takashi and slings an arm around his shoulders.

"You look like death warmed over," he tells his brother, then looks up at the little crowd. "Let's go upstairs! I'll get everybody I know, and also this girl, a milkshake. And that includes you, Hinoiri-san, stay." 'This girl' means, apparently, Laura.

Then he glances back to Takashi. "Did I tell you we're engaged? Me and Usagi, I mean, not me and you, obviously." That is in fact a diamond ring on Usagi's finger!

And that's when Chiyo backs into them, and Mamoru sputters, letting go of Takashi to wave purple hair out of his face.

He laughs a little at Laura's question as he goes for the stairs, saying back over his shoulder, "You just have to pay the same fee again. Some people play over and over to get a better score each time."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Brai claps her tiny hands as Usagi wins, and says, "Congratulations, Usa-chan!" Tiny fireworks appear around her, colorful and sparkly, as she raises her hands into the air. "You won the game!"

    Madoka meanwhile is just giving the game a blank stare and for a moment she's thinking about Homura instead of Gretchen. A part of her wonders if her SO's name is on the list, but no... Not in any capacity that she recognizes.

    Takashi Agera goes mostly unnoticed by her. She isn't that familiar with him, despite seeing him around campus maybe once or twice. If it were Riventon instead, she might have a few opinions.

    When Hinoiri clarifies what she meant, Madoka puts two and two together and says, "Oh... well, I can see you haven't lost your competitive streak."

    Madoka shrugs at Laura and says, "Honestly up until recently I've only played lowkey games like Legend of Zelda, but a friend got me into Undertale the other day. I've never really been that competitive honestly, but co-op games do exist."

    Madoka says, "Congratulations again!" as Mamoru mentions that they got engaged. She can't remember if she learned that already or not. Well, more precisely, she can't remember if she's heard that in this timeline before or not.

    Golly she's tired. Maybe a milkshake wouldn't be a bad idea.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi doesn't worry about Obsidian seeing him out with Hinoiri, and Mamoru for that matter, amongst a bunch of other quote-unquote civilians, actually. It's probably the safest place -to- be seen near Hinoiri and Mamoru. It wasn't somewhere he could be expected to blast them, after all. So he's rather unconcerned. She gets a friendly "Afternoon, Kirara-san" from him in response to her greeting.

    And then he's being simultaniously hugged and bumped into - and while he's overly tall like his brother he's at least as string-bean if not moreso, so the impact of the other girl into him makes him take a step back, which ends up with him stepping into the guy giving him a hug, a sort of startle domino effect. "Careful, it's a busy room." he advises, just a small edge to his voice but otherwise smiling.

    "Chiba-san, do you know all of these people? Because if so, good job; last time I saw you with this many people you had to make an emergency exit." he notes, bemusedly. "Glad to see you're doing better."

    "Engaged? Well, uh..." he says, putting his hand behind his head and rubbing his neck. "Yeah, congratulations I guess?" he says quizzically. He's not entirely sure what to say. On the one hand it seems early, but on the other hand he had all of those visions from eating Beryl's little quasiportal worth of energy and if they were right these two were connected for a very long time.

    He turns to Laura. "I don't know, I enjoy competitive games. Feels good when you and someone else go all out and then you're the one that wins." he says. "Co-op can be good too; seeing how you work as a team, but it doesn't give quite the same rush."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"If you win, and your score is good enough, you go on the wall," Usagi tells Laura cheerfully, "And if you lose, you just get game over. It's a fun way to past the time." A glance at Hinoiri, and she smiles a little, "Of course I saw it. My followers give me updates on all the interesting girl streamers!"

But then she's with Chiyo, and yes she's about squeezed the daylightds out of her, but then she's released, with a smile.

"Taro-kun's helping out? That's good! He's really great with sweets, and you're great with sweets, together you'll do great." Beat. "But not together, together! I mean, I'm pretty sure there's someone else -"

Whoops. Thank goodness Chiyo chose that moment to step back into Takashi. Usagi grabs her wrist to pull her back, as Mamoru offers milkshakes to everyone and also once again announces their engagement, and she looks utterly besotted. Just, disgustingly in love over here, and she flips her heart-shaped sunglasses down.

"Yeah, we're like, in love love," she giggles. "Whoo, milkshakes! Winning really works up a sweat, huh?"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara blinked a few times before glancing to Madoka. "Wait, you stopped sparkling? I thought cause of the whole like... I mean, I heard about what you did to Gretchen and stuff, but I didn't think they'd all left you. That's rough," Hinoiri said, actually sounding genuinely sad for her. A shame that was NOT what Chiyo was saying.

Then her gaze turned to Laura and... "Oh, then you really *don't* get it. If you win, you get the knowledge that you *Won*. That, this time, you *were* better. You were good enough, you were strong enough, fast enough, smart enough. You get a better, stronger understanding of your own limitations, of what you can do, your own worth, your--"

And then stopped. Slowly... her eyes went to the others. As she realized... yeah... her... competitive side was showing. "... But playing... with... people... can be okay too. I guess. Winning together is... cool."

Then Hinoiri blinked a few times, opening her mouth and... "Wait, you two weren't ALREADY engaged? I thought you two got engaged after the whole like... blinding everyone who happened to be outside thing?"

Buuuut... she was invited. She glanced to the clock, then slowly nodded. "Sure. I ummmm, don't have any projects waiting for me and I already have next weeks homework done so I can spend a few minutes hanging out."

Her gaze turned to Madoka next and she smiled. "Yeah, uhhhh. Undertale can be pretty fun. Only played it a few times. Music is nice."

Aaaaand Usagi calls her streaming out, drawing another blush to her cheeks. "Uhhhh... well... happy I uhhhh, am worth notice. It's... kind of fun."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Woop! Usually she wasn't really clumsy, but lately her mind had been elsewhere a lot. Chiyo bumps into Takashi, tipping her head back which probably doesn't help with the purple curly hair getting into Mamoru's face either! But the quick save from Usagi has her changing course again to take a step back toward her cousin. Turning a bit red from embarassment she glances back with a quick, "Sorry! You're right, it's crowded."

It takes a moment for her to recognize Takashi. She'd really only met him once, and perhaps seen him in passing a few times. And that 'once' was when they were trying to 'set up' Usagi and Mamoru. And she can't help but think of another tall boy with long white hair for just a moment before shaking the memory off.

"I could go for a milkshake," she agrees about joining in as she looks over the group, and of course at the two lovebirds with more of a grin. "Congratulations! I never got to really say it with everything going on. Yes, Taro-san is helping out. He helped at the shop for a bit and Ojiisan really seems to have taken a liking to him." A pause comes, as she adds, "A lot. Like. They get along *really* well. He's been kind of acting like... I don't know. A brother or something?"

Hinoiri's remark aimed not toward her but toward Madoka has her attention snagged away for a moment looking very confused. "Uh? You're having issues too, Madoka-chan?" Gretchen got away? Her expression turns a little perplexed as she remarks, "You know there's a lot of us who would help if we can."

As she talks she heads for the upstairs seating area that Mamoru had suggested they all retreat to because she really DID want that milkshake. "I could use something cold to drink. And sweet. And that ring is really pretty! Did it come from Naru-chan's mother?"

Laura La Mer has posed:
Well, at least that was something. Though she hadn't exactly received a reply over punishments, she can assume there is none given the reply she actually got. She is about to head somewhere else when Mamoru invites the whole group to get milkshakes. "Thank you", she looks up at the taller teen, bowing her head at him. "That's quite nice of you. Let me introduce myself then. Laura La Mer, I have recently been enrolled in Radiant Heart", she adds to him.

She stares surprised at Mamoru when she thinks has been caught in some sort of meetup to spread the news of an engagement? What is it humans do here!? Should she remedy a gift? How official a business are engagements here?

Mostly keeping her composure externally, Laura clears her throat and adds "I wasn't aware you were planning a special announcement, and I thank you again for choosing to invite me to your celebration. I offer you my congratulations on your engagement on behalf of my country too."

"Which did you emjoy more? Zelda or Undertale?" Laura asks Madoka.

"I don't mind facing someone else, if that is the meaning of multiplayer", she tells Takashi. "But I find more enjoyment in a friendly competition itself that its result. So fighting against a machine is really not my thing."

A weird gaze is directed to Hinoiri. "And what do you do after you have won? Do you keep bringing it up? Isn't it more fun to make fun memories with your friends? What do you do with your victory?"

Jadeite has posed:
It's a chore to get out of the house, but Tamaki has made himself leave anyway. He can't just expect Mamoru to drag him out and socialize every time! He's got to go out on his own! Get messy! Make mistakes! Try new things! Even if that's messing around with clay while drinking a latte, because at least he's wearing real clothing and talking to human beings!

Though when Mamoru and Usagi's little team comes in through the entranceof the cafe, Tamaki's head shoots up and he waves to them all.

"Hey! Do you all want me to grab one of the big tables for us to share?" he asks.

Don't mind the green clay pony he's slowly sculpting. NOrmal thing to do, to make tiny colorful horses as art.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Thanks! I am doing better, but-- the earplugs help," Mamoru tells Takashi, wryly pointing to a little red sound-dampener in his ear. "Means I can concentrate on keeping the walls up instead of dealing with too much input. They were Usagi's idea," he explains. "But I only know almost everyone."

He doesn't admit to what games he plays, mostly because he's focused on milkshakes and possibly fries-- he clatters up the stairs two at a time in those ridiculously expensive shoes, then steps up to the counter and puts down his bank card. "A large chocolate milkshake in a to-go cup, and fries too, and then whatever milkshakes they all want," he says, waving his arm generally in the direction of the crowd coming up the stairs.

There are undoubtedly a few strangers who overheard and are seeing if they can get in on the free milkshakes, too, but Mamoru isn't bothering to notice.

He laughs again-- what a good mood he's in!-- and steps a little aside so everyone else can order. And then his eyebrows go up at Laura. Looks like he recognises her name, by his expression -- but all he does is push up his glasses. "Thank you," he says, "but don't worry about it, we've been engaged since near the end of June. It's just that an awful lot's happened since then, so I haven't told everyone I wanted to..." For now, he leaves 'on behalf of my country' alone.

And then there's *Tamaki*. "Yeah!" he calls. "Thanks! That'd be awesome."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka blinks at Hinoiri, saying, "What? No. I haven't stopped. Brai is right over there." She points to her little fairy, suddenly looking a bit concerned at Hinoiri. "You can still see her, right? You're not fading on us already, are you?" Naturally this compounds the confusion even further.

    She tries to ignore the 'what you did to Gretchen' comment, even if it makes her frown a little more. Emphasis on 'try'. The more she thinks about it, the more sour she gets, up until the moment she notices Brai hovering a foot from Hinoiri's face, waving her arms saying, "Hello~o, can you see me? I'm right here! Can you see me?"

    The sight of her fairy's antics gets a giggle out of her, and for a moment her smile is sincere rather than forced.

    On the subject of Undertale, Madoka comments, "It was... interesting. I think Gretchen got into the gameplay more than I did, but I liked the characters."

    As she heads towards the cafe for the promised treats, Brai hovers after her. She glances towards Chiyo and says, "A lot of friends have been helping me. Usagi-chan included. We're... really close to finding her, I just know it, but..." She glances down to her notebook, which is still slightly giving off some dark energy. "I'm pretty sure she's going to put up a fight. Her and her two youngest sisters."

    Brai comments, "Actually, we know exactly where she is. Madoka just doesn't want to pull aggro without a plan."

    Madoka says, "I think you're speaking a bit over confidently, Brai-chan."

    The tiny competence fairy crosses her arms. "My confidence is well earned!"

    To Laura's question, Madoka says, "Well, I mean... if I have to choose between those two, I'd have to say Zelda, but... that's really stiff competition. I guess it really comes down to which Zelda game I'm talking about. I think Breath of the Wild would win against Undertale, but Wand of Gamelon would lose. Twilight Princess would be a bit of a tossup. Then there's the spin off games like Hyrule Warriors which aren't even in the same genre..."

    When they get to the counter, Madoka quietly waits her turn before ordering, "Strawberry, please! Medium sized. Oh, and with an extra cherry." She adds that last part as she glances at a very eager Brai, leaving little doubt regarding whom the cherry is intended for.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara blinked a few times. "Uhhhh... isn't that who you were talking about?"

However, then... it clicked. She stared at Chiyo. "Wait... you're..." And then she went quiet. And looked concerned, at least. She hadn't heard about that...

Luckily, Laura was the ideal distraction. "Oh, right. I'm Hinoiri Kirara. Nice to meet you. And... no? What'd be the point of bringing it up all the time? It's not about making them know, it's about knowing yourself what you are capable of. What your own limitations are. Wouldn't be any real point to rubbing it in someone's face that you beat them once, all that proves is that you're a flank."

She'd get... orange serbert shake today. Calling hers out... Only to then turn on Madoka and say with far, far too much agression. "I am *NOT* going to *FADE!*" The anger and sheer hostility when she said that surprised... even her...

Only for her suddenly CLAP her hands together around Brai. GAH! Except... she cupped her hands around Brai, didn't actually cup them. Then held her out to Madoka, before sighing and opening her hand. "*Please* warn your little buddies to not do that? I'm nice now, sure. But there's a lot of people who might hurt them and I don't want them getting hurt. I... do hope you realize that just doing a plan of 'attack' won't do you any good in this case, Kaname-san. It might not feel like it but... well... In a lot of ways? You're kind of going through a bit of your own little 'Sayaka' situation. You can paint a tree all you want, but when the harvest season it's not going to have zap apples unless you plant the right seeds."

"... I have no idea if that analogy makes any sense here."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Thanks Chiyo-chan! And no worries, with everything that happened, we hardly got to celebrate, you know?" And then Hinoiri is piping up with her confusion, and Usagi laughs a little too loudly, glancing at Mamoru's brother, who definitely doesn't need to know about her secret identity because he works for Obsidian!

"No, we just got engaged in June," she echoes Mamoru, "But I mean, it's just making official what we already know: that Mamochan and I are in it for forever." And ever, and ever, and ever, etc etc etc. As they climb the stairs to the cafe, she drifts over to order a cookies and cream milkshake, then waves excitedly at Tamaki. "Hey! Tamakun, good to see you! We can say hi to everyone!"

Only then does Madoka's more cryptic comment catch her attention, and she frowns in concern, drifting a little closer, in time to see Hinoiri lunge for Brai and go stiff with concern - never mind that that was the same thing Taro did with that other fairy, this is Hinoiri and that is one of Madoka's fairies, and she's quickly next to the two, whispering, "Madoka-chan is working on this, Hinoiri-chan, and you're the one who asked if Madoka-chan was out of sparkle even though Brai-chan is right there. It's a legitimate question! We're following her lead on this, because she's the one who can best deal with what Gretchan has planned."

If there's one thing she can be relied on for, it's sticking by her friends, even without the full context!"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai lights up as she glances over the cafe board already knowing what she wants but wanting to check anyway. It never hurt to see if something new was there! "I'll have a choco-mint shake and could you put a chocolate swirl around the glass beforehand? Oh and *lots* of whipped cream, too, please. Thank you!" Easy and yet she had her preferences. Choco-mint was amazing. Whoever says otherwise just didn't know the truth about the deliciousness.

When Laura introduces herself she lifts a hand to waggle her fingers toward the other girl. "I'm Chiyo Sakai, pleased to meet you. I'm Usagi-chan's cousin." It's offered with a bright grin as she explains her relation to the happily engaged couple.

To her credit she manages not to shudder when 'The Fade' is brought up. Though she DOES perhaps stick a bit closer to Usagi's side as the thought of forgetting makes her stomach ache. Nothing icecream won't fix.

As the talk of rescues and battles comes up though she steps away toward where Tamaki sits purposefully taking herself out of the central ring of that conversation. There's nothing much she can add right now so instead she looks for a distraction. "What are you making today?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi follows the group, though the earplugs aren't a bad idea, really - there's a lot of people here. Not that any of them are bad it's just there's A Lot. But there's also free milkshakes. Which Takashi will wait his turn for. Slightly begrudgingly. "Well, it certainly means more to win against another person than it does the machine." he adds, though that wasn't Laura's point at all.

    "Mint Chip." he says when asked for a flavor. Only stopping for a moment to side-eye Chiyo who asked for the same albeit with toppings.

    Then he turns and looks at Hinoiri as she gives the analogy - well, it's more of a side-eye. He doesn't admit or decline his awareness of the Chara, but anybody who saw him at the dance may have seen him interact with Yoru at the time. But he can't help but listen in and file the information away somewhere in his cavernous mind for later.

    Meanwhile Takashi moves back towards the booth with the group and Usagi is talking about the engagement. "Well, I hope you two are as good a match as myself and Tomoe-san, yes. Should we throw you a party or something? She does like to make cake." he offers for her. "I feel like an engagement is the sort of thing that should get a party." he notes. The Fade is brought up and Takashi just pretends to not notice. Well, that's the thing Hinoiri's afraid of, but he can't really comment on it, not surrounded by Mamoru's friends who he's willing to bet are at least half sparkles.

    Plus Tamaki, who he knows is Ex-Obsidian too. The company is getting steadily more crowded with those Ex-Obsidian folks.

    Then he remembers who Madoka is, that girl who he had to stop his attack from connecting fully with because she didn't even have henshin armor. Yep, at least half sparkles.

Jadeite has posed:
Tamaki has half an ear out for the conversation, but - he wasn't read in on Madoka's situation and Hinoiri's biting off more than she can chew right now, so he's going to let Usagi sort that out. And isn't that Mamoru's brother? He thinks he remembers him from Obsideon - augh, he's not sure if he should jump in there either - so he'll wait when people come over to sit wiht him, now that he's grabbed a big table for htem all to share.

He scoots over for Chiyo to sit with him, holding up the half-formed horse. "Sculpting. I haven't touched clay since - Before March, you know? And then Ami-chan got me some and I remembered how fun it was to play with. So I'm trying to make pony versions of everyone. This is going to be Mako, eventually," he says, offering Chiyo the horse. "I think. I'm still in the demo phase."

Laura La Mer has posed:
"Oh, I see", Laura says as Mamoru reveal when the whole thing happened. Well, apparently, she did a misstep there. She should have avoided that. "Still, congratulations", her tone shifts to one more awkward. "Want some?" she offers him the same marine gummies she offered Madoka. It's all she has on her right now, but she will get them something better next time. "or me a strawberry milkshake", she turns to give her order.

"I see, that's much better than what I thought at first, but you really don't need any of that", Laura remarks to Hinoiri when the unicorn replies with her own point of view. "You should be confident in yourself first no matter what happens, your achievements are incidental to that."

"Yeah, just try to let yourself go sometimes", the mermaid states blankly against Takashi. "That's much more fun than not keeping in mind you are having fun with a friend."

"Hi, Chiyo-san!" she greets cheerfully. "Laura La Mer, as you heard, nice to meet you! And the future bridesmaid, I suppose?"

"Why are you at risk of fading?" Laura asks both worried and surprised. "Did your powers stop working?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It's... Chiyo isn't the only one who's suddenly uncomfortable with the Fade being brought up; Mamoru knows he's closer to it than some of the people here. A couple of years doesn't make a lot of difference in most cases, but when it comes to forgetting everything important--

He falls quiet and stays there, attention scrambling for anything else to watch closely, to distract him. And, well, he keeps a little of his focus on the ordering going on, but mostly his gaze lands on Usagi. And who Usagi's interacting with.

And then Takashi brings up a party and Mamoru looks long-suffering but not terrifically opposed. "I like cake," he calls over like it's a super important admission and also a former secret.

Then super belatedly, he glances at Laura and looks a little chagrined. "Thanks! And, uh. Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself back. Mamoru Chiba, grade 11 at Radiant Heart. And don't worry, Hinoiri-san's too young for that."

He's too far to step on Hinoiri's foot.

But then people are more or less finished ordering, and Mamoru pays and re-pockets his wallet, then slides over to put his arms around Usagi from behind and bend a bit to put his chin on top of her head until either she shrugs him off or he gets a crick in his neck. Or the milkshakes and his fries are ready.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka glances at Hinoiri with tired eyes, and then glances at Brai who is staring at Hinoiri from within her cupped hands. The Chara Bearer moves a little closer and whispers low enough that Usagi can probably overhear but the rest of the sparkle-adjacent crowd might not, especially with all the background noise, "Hinoiri-chan, three of my little buddies are currently on the edge of global conquest and the main thing slowing them down is the fact that they want to be the 'nice' about it. Brai-chan can take care of herself."

    That said, she does cup Brai into her hands and pull her away from Hinoiri. Brai comments, "Your movements lacked killing intent," either because either she actually is observant enough to pick up on that or she has seen too much shonen anime. The world may never know.

    To Chiyo, Madoka says, "I'm sorry to hear you're going through something like that." She doesn't know the details, but she can piece together enough from this convo to understand that Chiyo's power is having issues. "I'm sure it'll work out somehow. I know my fairies really liked your candy."

    It's then that Takashi mentions 'Tomoe-san' and all of a sudden he has gone from 'background guy I don't know' to 'person of interest'. Suddenly she's standing right beside him asking, "Excuse me. Did you just mention a Tomoe-san? You wouldn't happen to be talking about a very pretty, strong willed upperclassman with drills in her hair, would you?"

    After all, Mami might not remember it, but she is the one who first trained Madoka in magical girling. In another timeline anyways. She'll always be at least somewhat interested in how she's doing.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai catches that Takashi orders mint chocolate too which prompts her to flash him a broad grin and lift her fingers in a victory sign. "Choco-minto!" She calls out as if she were cheering for a team as she finds another lover of the often divisive flavor combination.

"A party might not be a bad idea just in general, too," she reasons. "Though this is as good an excuse as any to hold one." Her gaze dips between Hinoiri, Laura, and then Takashi as she clears her throat just ever-so-slightly hoping to bring to light the fact that they were in mixed company.

Of course, so far as she knows, Takashi is just a regular guy.

When Tamaki slides over she takes the offered seat with a nod of thanks. But then he's showing the sculpture! Leaning over a bit she regards the horse sculpture with interest. "That's really good. I'm not sure what makes it 'Makoto-chan' though. Maybe if you gave her a bakers hat." And somehow made the horse look muscular enough to pile-drive a youma.

Again she's brought back to the conversation that keeps shifting around so she dips her head in thanks toward Madoka's remark. "Thank you. It's ... It's over and done with now though, so there's no need to talk about it further. Let's just enjoy the day and the treats Mamoru-san is getting us."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a small shrug. "I figured you two were meant for each other and cling on each other so much that you were already engaged. Well, grats. Try not to buck it up I guess before you tie the knot. That's the... right term, right?" she asked.

"And I know she has one of the little... fairy things. But that doesn't mean she can still, you know. I mean, I think some people who have them can't. I wasn't able to do much experimentation on them and I never had one. Though..." Then her eyes fell on Brae again and they could allllll see that calculating, considering gaze of Hinoiri's. Wondering what kind of experiments she could get away with on the little chara.

Only for Laura's question to shake her out of those thoughts. "... Yeah, I guess I should," she muttered. "Be confident. And..." Well, it seemed Laura didn't know. "... Not quite. Just don't have them. It..." Then she trailed off. Now that she thought about it, there were a LOT of magical people here, but she actually didn't know Laura. Was the girl magic? Prooooobably? Her questions made her seem from... out of this world. A bit.

... Oh gosh was she a pony?!

DISTRACTION! FOCUS ON MADOKA AGAIN! "Of course I don't have killer intent, I'm not a killer. She..." Then she blinked a few more times. Wait. Madoka knew Takashi's girlfriend? "You know Tomoe-san?" Hinoiri asked, actually surprised by this. And here she thought Madoka was supposed to be a 'good girl'. Maybe there was a bit of a bad girl in there, after all. But that was for Takashi to determine. Instead... she turned her attention to Takaki. "Huh, so you're still doing the ponies? Remind me later to draw you up some of the variants. I bet a few people we know would make good seaponies and batponies. Not to mention deerlings which, while not ponies, are at least adjacent and an ally..."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Nah, there's no way we'll mess things up. Tying the knot is a thing people say, yep. And we're definitely going to tie it!" Usagi hums, leaning back into Mamoru's arms as he comes up behind her.

She heard a mention of cake and party and she's pleased that Mamoru's agreed on their behalf, even though she knows he's not a real fan of parties. The wedding - when it comes, probably in like... mournful sigh, five years or so, will definitely need to feature his earplugs.

And Madoka's not too upset about anything, so that helps. She glances towards where Chiyo and Tamaki are talking, and says, quietly, hoping Takashi won't hear, with Madoka asking about his apparent girlfriend, "La Mer-chan, this kind of place isn't the best for talking openly about all of that."

Hopefully, her tone is gentle enough to not come across as scolding.

She caught the considering, evaluating look Hinoiri threw Brai, and she's fighting the urge to warn her off. Madoka can definitely defend her chara with the best of them.

Jadeite has posed:
"Well, I'm still working on the body, I haven't gotten to the identifying details yet," Tamaki tells Chiyo. "I'd do a brown mane and then pink ribbons, maybe some flowers? Which may be corny, but I'm more confident in sculpting flowers than a chef's hat. I don't know if one would even fit on a horse head." Would it? Could it? He flips it around thoughtfully.

"I mean, I could always make the ponies pure white and then give them multicolored manes? But so many of us have, ah, a favored color," one that shows up predominantly in their henshins, "that I thought it'd be better to standardize them with that." Hmm. "Do you want a pretzel ball? I have extra."

He pushes the little bowl of warm pretzel balls towards Chiyo and Mamoru, for if they want a quiet snack.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi returns Chiyo's cry out with the expected response. "Choco-Minto!" he says, because well.. when in Rome, or the Crown... he is as much a regular guy as everyone else here is!

    He does find it interesting that former Jadeite (also still Jadeite? Takashi can't remember if they all took new henshin names or not right now) is making little pony-like sculptures, though. He thought Hinoiri and DT were a thing but that's probably hard with the actor still being capital O Obsidian, so...

    He turns to Madoka and smiles. "Yeah, upperclassman, beautiful spiral hair, carries herself like a royal." he says, and maybe there's a little tag in there at Usagi and Mamoru or maybe it's a coincidence. But he absolutely sounds a little smitten, no faking.

    When it comes to Laura, Takashi is frankly so used to working with offworlders in Obsidian it doesn't even register - his coworkers are things like a catgirl from another world after all.

    He does take a moment to take a few steps towards Mamoru, lean over and whisper. "We won't have a party if you don't want to, Chiba-san." he notes. "Saw your reaction. Just got ahead of myself here with you doing all of the people'ing."

Laura La Mer has posed:
"Is something else wrong with her?" Laura asks perplexed to Mamoru. After all, if Hinoiri isn't fading on them, why is Madoka worried about Hinoiri losing her memories?

Laura is made curious by the admission Hinoiri doesn't have powers. After all, no powers = nothing is tying her up to some other magic type. And she clearly has some sensitivity to magic else she wouldn't be saying that. "Call me later, I want to see if a Tropical Pact reacts with you. My number is XXX-XXXXXXX."

She turns to look at Usagi as she hears her scolding. She frowns slightly when she might have found someone free, but still this is their party, and she doesn't really want to ruin it. "I am sorry, Usagi-san. I will talk about something else. Will Chiyo-san be your bridesmaid?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Usagi is warmmm and Mamoru doesn't actually want to let go to get his milkshake and fries, but after a long moment of her leaning back against him, he kisses the top of her head and carefully steadies her as he steps back. "That's my fries," he murmurs, then heads for the counter. He gets them -- milkshake inclusive -- and then comes back to the table, where he pulls out a chair on Tamaki's other side and puts down the basket of fries where Usa and Tama can both reach.

He does not let go of his milkshake.

Mamoru's very amused by Madoka basically teleporting to Takashi's elbow to ask about Mami, and then he remembers what Madoka had explained to him after the portal, and he's less amused and feels less like it's his business.

He does laugh at Hinoiri. "We won't mess it up," he assures her. "And we won't let anyone else mess it up either."

There's a lot of talking, and Mamoru's definitely floating on top of it instead of trying to follow everything. He does steal one of Tamaki's pretzel balls, though, and then looks up to Takashi and smiles ruefully. "You're so much nicer than I deserve, after the party we threw for you. But it's okay, as long as it's not too big or I get to wear the earplugs. It would make people happy, and I do like cake."

He does not actually say a damn thing about what's wrong with Hinoiri.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai considers the remark about the plain horses only to shake her head readily in agreement. "No, green is definitely her color. I think she loves roses if you go that route, too," she suggests trying to be a bit helpful even if she couldn't really do that herself. Could she? "I wonder if sculpting clay is similar to mochi." Hmm. "I could make some decorative items that way to show off if so. I may have to give it a try." Or ask Taro to since he was more of the 'sculptor' sort.

When the pretzel balls are offered she takes one, pops it into her mouth, and then takes another. Which she holds up between thumb and forefinger to declare, "Usa-chan, heads up!" And she does at least wait for Usagi to look her way before tossing it toward her. Whether she catches it or just chomps it out of the air is up to her!

Laura's question earns a bright grin. "I wouldn't mind if that's what she wants, but I know she has a lot of close friends too so I'll understand if not. Besides, it's still going to be quite a bit of time before any ceremony. They need to graduate first! BOTH of them." A beat. "One way or another." She'd heard of Usagi's grades.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Is something else wrong with Hinoiri? It's a good thing Usagi's milkshake is called before she has to respond to that, and by the time she's practically teleported to the basket of warm fries, there's a different topic of conversation. Bridesmaids. That's a much better topic of conversation, yes indeed!!

"Pssh, of course you'll be a bridesmaid!" Usagi says cheerfully and then - "Oh, thanks!!!" Yes, she did chomp the pretzel ball right out of the air, with as much accuracy as a golden retriever snatching a frisbee from the sky.

But then she considers..." And... oh man, I don't know the maximum number of bridesmaids, aside from matching the groomsmen, and uh..."

She tilts her head a little, trying not to knock Mamoru off of her - "Mamochan, we're going to have a huge wedding party, aren't we?"

They both have too many people they love to not ask the to be in the wedding party itself. This.

This is gonna be a problem, some day.

Oh boy.

Chiyo-chan, Wako-chan, Mako-chan, Ami-chan... probably Suna-san, Rei-chan, and Minako-chan too... oh boy.

"Between all our friends and all my family, we're going to have a huge wedding. Mamochan's going to have earplugs the whole time for sure."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Brai gives Hinoiri a knowing frown. Madoka wasn't looking, but she was. Maybe she really is as intuitive as she claims. Then again, Hinoiri's look isn't hard to read.

    Too bad she didn't give that look to Rens instead. The science Chara might actually volunteer.

    As Madoka hears the tone of voice that Takashi speaks of Mami with, she 'hms'. She doesn't know this boy very well, but at the very least he doesn't give off immediate player vibes. "I haven't had her cooking in a while, but I remember it was pretty amazing," she mentions. "She tries really hard, so remember be nice to her, okay?"

    At that point she leaves the topic alone, at least somewhat confident that she wont have to break his legs for trifling with a Puella Magi's feelings or something. One day Hinoiri may actually catch onto the fact that she's not really so much of a perfect 'good girl' as much as she is a particularly kind one. Or maybe she wont.

    Madoka takes her milkshake and wanders over to the table that they seem to all be sitting on. She also feeds the tiny cherries to Brai, who seems to be enjoying herself muchly.

Jadeite has posed:
"What's wrong with Hinoiri is that she hasn't complimented my horse," Tamaki says, only sulking a little. At least compliment the equine! He's been messing around with ponies for weeks now after they hung out!

(He is tactful enough he's not going to bring up anything else in mixed company.)

"I bought a bunch of clay after my first batch ran out - if you want, I can give you some," he offers Chiyo. "I'm guessing the texture would be different, but it's good to have while working thorugh things." You know. Losing your powers, coming to terms with your unhealthy coping mechanisms.

As for the wedding - "Perhaps we should have a large party, but also a much smaller party?" he asks Usagi. "So he doesn't have to spend the entire event in earplugs."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
"Of course a chef's hat fits on a ponies head, did you think they only wore hairnets in the kitchen?" Hinoiri asked Tamaki as if that was the most normal comment in the world to make. "Also, that'd be weird. Coats come in so many different styles and colorations, making them all white would be like having all humans have the same hair style and wearing the same clothes. Like some kind of weird pony cult. Half expect them to start singing about 'our town' and removing their cutie marks," Hinoiri grumbled... then her eyes glanced to Laura. To see if she reacted. Pony?! Not pony?!

... Also, she didn't comment on if anything else was wrong with her. Though she half expected there would be SO MANY comments to that... "Tropical... pacts?" Hinoiri asked, taking her phone out... and adding the number. Color her interested...

"I guess Naru will probably be your best mare, right?" she asked. "And... oh. Yeah, I guess it's not like, a royal wedding. You won't be getting married until... post graduation..." Hinoiri mumbled. "... So, ummmm... sorry if I'll be unable to attend because... well... you know why." Assuming the portal home ever opened.

She took her milkshake and a small sip of it. "Still, I'm sure you two will make a perfectly cute bride and groom. Sounds like a lot of fun. If I can't attend, I'll at least try to send some cake from back home." Pause. "And a pony's chef hat," she said THAT bit to Tamaki.

Then her phone buzzed and she sighed, pulling it out... then squeaked. "Oh. Ohhhh boy. I gotta go. And Tamaki-kun? Your ponies remind me of home. Later!" He, at least, would get the compliment of that. Most of them likely would. She then quickly got to her feet, shake in hand, before racing out the door. Something... apparently?

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi turns away from Madoka for just long enough to watch Chiyo toss a pretzel ball for Mamoru's new fiance to chomp it out of the air. So that's his type? Well, there's no accounting for taste. When Mamoru talks about the unscheduled birthday party, Takashi merely shrugs and says "You had wasps at the time you did that." Which is about as telling as how he felt about the party as anything could be.

    Back to Madoka, he replies, "Lots of things she does are pretty amazing. Including her work ethic." It's interesting how much easier it got for Takashi to tolerate Mamoru talking about Usagi, once he had Mami. Go figure.

    It's good to see Hinoiri has some friends outside of Obsidian now, though, or at least it seems that way. He was far less confident in his ability to bring her magic back without Dark Energy given the side effects of the last time, so it was good for her to accept her fate. How little he truly knew on that front.

    Takashi was actually thinking of stepping out himself, but with Hinoiri leaving, he decides to stay a little bit longer; just so if anyone is watching it doesn't look like they're leaving together or like he had a chance to come up behind her. He generally figures Obsidian had given up on watching her much less him, but you really never know with the Company.

    "What are you gonna do about the wedding then, have one larger one then one smaller one?" He asks, teasing Tamaki. "Though I guess in the wedding people will probably be quieter, but there's the reception afterwards..."

Laura La Mer has posed:
Laura really doesn't get what all the silence is about Hinoiri Is she terminally ill? Suffering from non-magical memory problems? Are they avoiding bringing it up because it will be inconsiderate for her?

The mermaid looks at Usagi with her wedding question. Does she really have that many friends? Or a numerous family? "I don't think it's happening soon, right? You still have a lot of time to find out", she reserves her a smile. She doesn't know either, so that is really the only way she can try to be helpful. Though Chiyo subs in on that front with a more solid affirmation than her guesswork.

"Well, there you have it", she grins at Chiyo. "Now you know what she wants straight from her mouth. And since there is this time, you have all the time to prepare a super great impression", Laura tells her cheerfully.

"What is a cutie mark? Is it like a charm point?" is actually Laura's question to Hinoiri. She wants to ask more precise questions than that, specifically in regards to the pony cult, but she is trying to respect the ban on discussing anything magical. Even that may be too much.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
The reassurance that she would be a bridesmaid earns a warm smile from Chiyo as she considers that. It was further down the line but it was nice to think of something NICE in the future instead of just... Uncertainty. This seemed certain. Nothing would shake those two if they could face evil sun demons.

"That sounds nice. And I may even have a date for it," she adds with a little laugh. "He's sticking around so far though. At this rate we may need to look at renting some new apartments between Philip, and Taro-kun, and me and Ojiisan. Though I don't think Ojiisan will ever really move," she has to admit thoughtfully as her mind wanders toward other topics. Hm. "It's good he has some apprentices though. It's not all on me now. Not that I minded, but I've never really had the chance to consider doing more than running the business either."

Tamaki earns another smile and a quick nod of agreement. "I'd certainly like to try! It's clay so even if I make a mistake at least it can be reused. Right?" She thinks that's how clay works.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"A huge wedding party, yeah. Maybe Haruka would be willing to be a groomsman," Mamoru suggests in a tone of voice that says very clearly that this is Future Mamoru's Problem, Actually. "~Hopefully~ Taka-kun here will be my best man," he adds with a grin, loud enough for Takashi to hear for sure, "but I haven't asked him yet~"

He eats a fry contemplatively, then has some chocolate milkshake, then nods in agreement. "We definitely both have to graduate, but not necessarily graduate college, that would absolutely be waiting too long."

A sidelong glance at Tamaki, and Mamoru twirls his straw in his milkshake for a moment. "Two parties," he says, "seems like less fun than one party with earplugs. I can always just dip if it's too much. I'm starting to get there even now..."

And Hinoiri-- well, he's about to say something to her about she should absolutely come, but then she's out the door in a rush, and Takashi's talking again, and Mamoru looks toward him again. "I did," he agrees, "have wasps." Then he grins. "I'm going to eat fries and avoid talking."

Then he does just that.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Then we have to decide which of our friends and family get to come to the smaller wedding," she warns Tamaki, and glances at Takashi with a grin. Laura's question earns a little laugh.

"We definitely have a few years! But between Mamochan's brothers and the guys, my family and the girls, that's like twenty people without our friends in general, and their plus ones, and any other important family."

Her immediate family, her grandparents on both sides, her great grandfather, the patriarch of the Tsukinos, her dad's brothers, and her cousins, Chiyo-chan's grandfather, and that was all just on her side. There was Kazuo and his mother, Tamaki and anyone he wanted to invite or tell.

Wars have been fought over wedding invitations, and if they haven't, it feels like they have!

"Naru-chan is definitely the probable pick for maid of honor," she confirms, humming, "Thanks, Hinoiri-chan. And - if you're not with us, we'll appreciate the cake."

Because she can't blame her for wanting to go back home. Even if she will kind of miss her. (Kind of, she says.)

She stretches, and looks at Mamoru, and yeah, he's starting to get there, and she's enjoying the conversation, but they had started out here as just hanging out together, so -

"When we're done with our shakes, we can split and play some games," she suggests, and will settle back with Mamoru, contemplating weddings and games and the joy of a peaceful afternoon.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "At least you'll have the honeymoon to yourself, probably?" says Madoka, in regards to the sheer size of the Usamamo wedding party.

    Hinoiri suddenly has to leave, and both Madoka and Brai watch as she goes. They frown and squint at her back, processing mixed feelings because on the one hand they don't really trust Hinoiri but on the other hand they don't want to push her into the kind of corner that would lead to her getting back onto dark energy. So they are at least being polite. Which means that she isn't really going to explain to Laura what she thinks is wrong with Hinoiri.

    The comment on Mami's work ethic earns a sideways glance from Madoka. "Yes, she works very hard, and is also very good at training others. A lot of people look up to her even if they don't always admit it."

    She continues eating her milkshake, sharing bits of it with Brai while enjoying herself. For the moment at least, she actually manages to relax, but honestly that just means that she starts to get a bit quiet as tiredness catches up to her.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "Well obviously I would be." Takashi says to Mamoru. "It says it there in the title, doesn't it? Best man?" he adds, with that smirking grinning smile and the clone that makes it up in the air if he's kidding or serious. If he's JUST BEING full of himself or ACTUALLY that full of himself.

    "Mmm, speaking of, I should probably go check and see how she's doing today." he says, to Madoka, in regards to Mami. "Thanks for the milkshake, Chiba-san, and for the company, the rest of you." he says, before turning on his heel to head out.

Laura La Mer has posed:
"That does sound like a lot of work", Laura agrees with Usagi's assessment now that the blonde girl has explained a lot of her consideration. Thoughts of having a lot of time might lead her to risk missing something she doesn't want to miss. "You will have a great day though, that's for sure."

Though, people are starting to leaving, and she probably doesn't want to intrude too long, so she bows her head towards Mamoru and Usagi. "Thank you for inviting me, I will catch you around", she says, before walking out of the locale.